Germantown's New Restaurant Steam Boys

With dumplings, noodles, and bao, Steam Boys brings affordable Chinese to Germantown.

by

Steam Boys

Nashville’s quantum growth has given us dining diversity with expanded options that trek around the globe.

But, ask around to see what’s still missing, and many will say

“good, affordable, Chinese.”

Now, those requests are being answered. In Hillsboro Village, Meet Noodles, an outpost of the Brooklyn-based Chongqing noodle shop, has been drawing crowds who relish dipping into bowls of xiao mian (“little noodles”) in an array of heady broths. And filling a need for handcrafted dumplings and Chinese steamed buns, or bao, is Steam Boys, debuting in the new LC Germantown development on 2nd Avenue North.

A gang of five, led by Brandon Lin (of Fulin’s Asian Cuisine), founded the fast-casual concept. Occupying a corner of the residential development, the light-filled eatery is accented with bamboo-paneled walls and woven bamboo lanterns suspended from the ceiling. In the open kitchen, stacks of bamboo steam baskets stand ready, as the chefs pleat crescent-shaped dumplings and tuck rounds of yeasted dough with savory meat. Place your order at the counter and take your number to a table. There, you’ll find a small wooden crate containing napkins, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Choose from the selection of bottled waters and sodas in the cooler. Self-serve dispensers of cucumber- and lemon-enhanced waters sit on a separate bar.

The menu is small. Start with an order of dumplings to share. The hot dumpling bowl, filled with finely minced pork with onions, cabbage, and ginger, is luscious. Pork and shrimp dumplings are laced with chives, the shrimp lending a distinctive pop.

Bao in Mandarin means treasure, and, indeed, each hand-kneaded round of dough conceals a prize, a generous filling of either pork or vegetables. Inside the bamboo basket, the bao steams up soft and supple with just a hint of sweetness. It arrives hot and fresh, cupped in a cabbage leaf.

Steam Boys also offers three noodle soups: beef shank, seafood, and veggie-tofu, each replete with green onions, baby bok choy, and a delectable tangle of pasta. The broth is kicked up at whatever spice level you prefer. (Medium is assertive, but not punishing.) The recipe for the beef broth alone takes up to 10 days to make, and imparts rich depth to the noodle-slurping experience.

Lin promises a delicacy soon to come: Xialongbao, or Shanghai soup dumplings. These special little packages are filled with spiced pork and soup aspic that melts as the dumplings steam. Each one is a perfect bite with a surprising gush of gingery broth.

“With dumplings,” Lin says, “the possibilities are endless.”

1200 2ndAvenue N., 615-678-6336; eatsteamboys.com